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Connecting external floppy drive to new computer usb port

Discussion in 'Miscellaneous Hardware' started by 8biosdrive, Jan 9, 2020.

  1. 8biosdrive

    8biosdrive Registered Members

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    A friend asked if I could help him to transfer from files off of some old floppy disks. I have a floppy drive in my old XP machine with newly erased hard drives and therefore no operating system. I have the adapter I used to connect the old hard drives to the new Win 10 computer to erase them(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076WZ1N4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I wonder if the same adapter will work with the floppy drive. The IDE ribbon connector on the floppy drive has 17 pins by my count, but the female connector on the adapter, which would connect to the USB port on the new computer, has (if I recall correctly) 21 or 22 pins. Would the adapter work with the 17 pins on the floppy drive, or would I need another adapter? Thanks for any help with this.
     
    8biosdrive, Jan 9, 2020
    #1
  3. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    Floppy drives don't use the same interface/connector as your IDE hard drive. If you want to use your own floppy drive, try this adapter.
    https://www.amazon.com/KOOBOOK-1-44...py+drive+to+usb+adapter&qid=1578585494&sr=8-8

    However, if you're spending money, why not just get a USB floppy drive
    https://www.amazon.com/External-Flo...ds=floppy+drive+adapter&qid=1578585632&sr=8-2

    Note: These are for 1.44 MB floppies only. I don't know what to do if you have 400 or 800 KB floppy disks? Guess you'll just need an older machine with the appropriate floppy drive.
     
    Tony D, Jan 9, 2020
    #2
    8biosdrive likes this.
  4. 8biosdrive

    8biosdrive Registered Members

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    Thanks Tony. Yes we're talking about standard 1.44 Mb floppies. Just wondering if the power cable in the floppy drive adapter link is 4 pin, and whether that would plug into the power adapter in the link I sent. Also, I noticed that the usb floppy drive costs less than the usb floppy drive adapter.

    In this case, I think I'll suggest that my friend spring for the usb floppy drive. It would have been easier if he had asked me this about two weeks ago, before I erased the hard drives on the old computer. Timing is everything!
     
    8biosdrive, Jan 9, 2020
    #3
  5. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    That's what I would do. The only issue will be if the floppies are 400 or 800 MB. Those USB floppy drives don't handle the lower capacity disks, but either will that floppy drive adapter.
     
    Tony D, Jan 9, 2020
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  6. 8biosdrive

    8biosdrive Registered Members

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    Another alternative is for him to see if Staples has a floppy drive on a working pc and could transfer his files to a flash drive. Wouldn't think they would charge much for that.
     
    8biosdrive, Jan 9, 2020
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  7. Tony D

    Tony D Administrator Administrator

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    Let us know how you make out with that.
     
    Tony D, Jan 9, 2020
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  8. plodr

    plodr CHF Advisor CHF Advisers

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    A USB floppy drive works well. We own 3 of them; all different brands. I've used them on Windows 2K, XP and & computers. My husband did not want to switch to USB sticks. I finally got him off floppies and he is wondering why he didn't make the switch sooner.
     
    plodr, Jan 10, 2020
    #7
  9. 8biosdrive

    8biosdrive Registered Members

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    I can see using a usb floppy for transferring old files from floppies to newer media, but for high capacity and small footprint, a usb stick is great.
     
    8biosdrive, Jan 10, 2020
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